Market Orientation Worksheet

1 Instructions

2 Customer Orientation

3 Competitor Orientation

How to use this tool
We encourage you to read our learning guide on market orientation before using this tool. This worksheet is designed to provoke reflection on your social enterprise's market orientation, helping you to think through and articulate what you currently know about your customers and competitors. Once complete, this tool will produce a summary report of your assumptions so you can reflect on where more information may be needed. In turn, this can be used to inform and structure additional market research initiatives.

Having a strong customer orientation means really understanding your target buyers so that you’re able to create superior value for them on an ongoing basis.
Understanding your target customers involves reaching out to them through interviews, surveys, or other means, to find out a number of factors that shape their experience and purchasing criteria. You want to understand who these people are, in a variety of ways. What factors do they care most about when buying a product or service like yours? What problems are they having? These insights allow you to improve both what you provide and how you market it. It is an ongoing process; customers change, your enterprise changes, and new problems and opportunities will probably never stop arising.
In addition to helping you understand how to improve your product or service, developing a customer oriented culture is a step towards making customers feel that you are committed to them. Consistently asking for feedback shows that you care about your customer’s experience. Additionally, things like having a customer-friendly/customer-relevant website, and a policy of overcompensating for mistakes, are all manifestations of putting customers first. Displaying customer commitment develops trust and loyalty, which are essential for sustained growth beyond individual ad campaigns.
Are you selling a product or a service?
Is your primary target customer businesses or individuals?
Are your primary target customers located regionally or nationally?
Describe your target customer.
Include information about their demographic and psychographic traits. Psychographic traits include things like social class, lifestyle, and personality of your target customers.
What is this customer looking for in a product or service?
What are the most important factors influencing their decision to purchase?
Factor Importance (1-10)
How frequently will they need your product or service?
daily weekly monthly annually only once
Describe your target customer's use of your offering. On what occasions will they need your product or service?

Understanding the competition is just as important as understanding your customers. More specifically: understanding the strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and strategies of key current and potential competitors, such that you can understand how to provide more value than those competitors on an ongoing basis.
Competitors are invaluable resources for helping you improve your offerings. Their strengths can show you where to improve. Their weaknesses, or lack of certain offerings, can show you where you might stand out and provide something uniquely valuable. Their missteps can help you avoid making the same errors.
How many companies currently sell a similar product to your identified target customer base?
In the last two years, has the number of companies providing this product or service to your target market increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
Analyzing businesses that have opened or closed in your region and industry can help you understand the market potential for your products or services.
Do you observe signs of competitive pricing (such as advertised discounts or price wars) for this product aimed at your target market?
Competitive pricing often happens in saturated markets, where comparable products exist and consumers enjoy a choice in offerings. If you notice competitive pricing, it may be an indication that the market you are considering is already saturated.
What additional market forces do you believe will offset the competitive environment?
Example answer: "The competitive environment will be offset by rising income in our target market, and anticipated increased number of target market families due to ABC headquarters moving here."
Who are the closest competitors in your target market?
Competitor 1
Competitor 2
Competitor 3
How do this competitor's products or services differ from yours?
Example inputs include: "priced higher", "less colorful", "primarily metal product"
What price are they charging for a similar product or service?
What comparative advantage do you have over this competitor?
Comparative advantage gives a company the ability to sell goods and services at a lower price than its competitors and realize higher margins. Examples include "closer to end customer", "proprietary technology", or "lower shipping costs".
What can you learn from this competitor's operations?
_{Example inputs include: "production efficiency", "retailer relations", "classic design elements"}
Summarize the key information you've learned about your position related to your competitors.
Example: "Analysis of the competitive landscape suggests that we can address the social problem and meet the needs of customers better than existing competitors. We will improve upon our competitors in both areas by..."